Age row: Four former CJIs come out in support of Army chief

NEW DELHI: Army chief General V K Singh's contention before the Supreme Court on his age has the backing of at least four former chief justices of India and a former solicitor general.

Of the four retired CJIs, at least two have raised questions about the attorney general's opinion in the case, which led the defence ministry to dismiss Gen Singh's stand that his date of birth is May 10, 1951. Besides the CJIs, former solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam too has given legal opinion to the Army chief saying that the attorney general's opinion was not binding on the government.

It is still not clear if all five legal opinions would be placed before the SC in the course of the case. These opinions were obtained at various times in recent days, as the Army chief was battling the MoD over the issue.

Justice G B Patnaik, who was CJI in 2002, has said that the attorney general's legal opinion, while it carried great weight, "cannot be said to be binding upon the central government".

"The position of law is crystal clear that in case of government employee, the date of birth is required to be recorded in the service register on the basis of age as recorded in school and college records at the time of entry into service and any correction with regard to the said date of birth can be permissible only if the rules governing the conditions of service allow the same," Patnaik has said.

Patnaik also argued that the UPSC form filled with 1950 as the year of birth "cannot be treated as conclusive piece of evidence recording date of birth nor can it be taken as admission on the part of the querist in the teeth of the official document like matriculation certificate" and other documents.

Justice J S Verma, who was CJI during 1997-98, has said the UPSC form was a "feeble support" to argue for 1950 as the Army chief's year of birth. "This mistake was corrected promptly by UPSC, while selecting him for the NDA and accepting May 10, 1951 as the correct DOB of the candidate. This correct date was thereafter accepted and recorded in the authentic records of the AG's branch in performance of the mandate in the charter of duties. It is needless to reiterate that except for the negligence of the MS branch to correct the revenant entry in its records, the correct DOB of Gen V K Singh was alone accepted and recorded in all the revenant documents of the Army," Verma has said in his opinion.

Verma also said, "If it be true that the learned attorney general has taken a different view (I would not like to believe it), then it is likely that the query for his opinion may not have been framed correctly to give the erroneous impression that it is indeed Gen V K Singh who seeks a change in his authentic DOB as recorded by the AG's branch to attract the jurisdiction of the MS Branch which refuses to do so."

Verma also pointed to a "contextual observation" which "is of greater national significance". "Recent media reports give this impression of Army chief Gen V K Singh for not sparing even the highest in the armed forces for their involvement in the housing and land scams. I am afraid edging out such an Army chief before the end of his legitimate tenure on this pretext may give the public impression of silencing the voice of an 'inconvenient truth'," he said.

Justice V N Khare, who was CJI during 2002-04, listed 12 documents that attested to the fact that Gen V K Singh was born on May 10, 1951. Among them are certificates issued by Rajput Regiment in 1965 from the records of his father Major Jagat Singh, class X certificates, identity card etc.

The Army chief also has the opinion of former CJI R C Lahoti, and former solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam to buttress his case.